#godsofolympus

Chapter 3: Taken for Granted - Hermes

Why is it the moments when you must be silent that breathing feels the most difficult? The weight that sits upon my chest now, is it adrenaline or it is fear? It is something that courses within me to warn me that missteps may be commonplace but are unacceptable in this place.

Ares built his lair intending to harness these feelings: dread, despair, hopelessness. It embodied this sadistic feel about it that made me want to renounce any acknowledgment of our common roots-as if I had not already renounced most of mine long ago. God of Travel, son of Haia, but nothing further than that, besides that I am just Hermes.

I could hear echoes of Ares and Zeus speaking as I tried to move closer, words Zeus carried throughout the lair with the same vibrations as thunder. Screaming is the only method of communication he has remembered since awakening apparently. The closer I got the more distinct those words got.

"Who!"

"Am I forgotten?"

"Prometheus! Damn Prometheus"

It seems my brother was doing his best to persuade Zeus to believe that Prometheus was the one who poisoned him. For all the sense it made, I still wouldn't believe it to be true. Neither do I think Ares does- the difference is he doesn't even care to know. He just cares to wreak havoc, as only those two know how to do.

Ares continued his instigation, "Do you not see how the humans have grown since you sleep? They claim now to fly, claim all beneath the seas, harbor themselves creationist, claim that which are for gods. This is Prometheus and his lot, all finding themselves ever prosperous in your absence."

Zeus grabbed one of Ares horned helmets and pierced it into the wall with a force that threatened to tear the whole place down. "Again! Again! And Again!" Zeus said. "The incessant rat never ceases to leave me alone!"

"There has not been a trustworthy Titan since the Titans took first breath, father. If anyone, you should know that. He should have long been..."

"Do not question me! Have you forgotten too? Have you!? He will die, I will find him myself if he hides...damn!"

I could see Ares smirk the more angered he saw father get. He had no heart beneath him. Darkness and Ego at best, perpetuated by his refined face and earthy beard. "What about mankind? Tell me what I should make of them please." Ares spoke as he gave a slight bow.

"Continue at your will. I've seen their transgressions. And I will have my moment to judge them. Ages have come and gone, this is no different. But next time I will not be mistaken in letting another creating life-those persistent pests. These gods are just as foolish as men I swear."

"There is nothing you need from me. Nothing at all, Father?"

"No," Zeus said, but at the same time slowly raising his hand to grasp Ares by the shoulder. I couldn't see his face, but I knew their eyes now met for a reason. "But for my son hiding in the shadows..." As soon as the words registered to me, I tried with all might to make my way back out of the lair. "...for you I have much need and use."

The words caught up to me as I tried to escape. "Sons, greet the great Olympian!" I heard Ares respond next.

Dust and rocks shuttered beneath my feet as I struggled to reach my top speed. My eyes shifting and shuffling as I turned to escape this maze-like cavern. As I neared the exit, I was met with these visions. A lion, lounging, mouth agape, with teeth the size of hands. In one instant I came to a halt with my heart still far out in front of me trying to escape. I stood face to face with Phobos, his eerie black-bearded figure haunting my very reality, his furnaced breath burning my face and eyes as he looked down at me. Grabbing me by the neck, he picked me up. My feet could move as fast as they wanted, but all I could make of myself was a man flailing in the wind.

His strangle made it hard for me to breathe, but even harder for me to blink. My eyes felt swollen, about to explode as I finally found the strength to blink. Then I blinked once more, and regret ever opening my eyes again. There beside Phobos appeared his brother Deimos. My heart became calm, drowned in fear now. He held the same smirk his father did seconds ago, but his made tears want to fill my eyes. I didn't see him move, but I felt his hand now clutching my face. As my head made a hasty descent to the ground beneath me, it felt as if my legs and body were being lifted, called above the heavens.

I opened my eyes to Zeus standing above me with a foot on my chest. As I came to, I began to realize I must have passed out from the blow, feeling the burgeoning pain drilling the back of my skull. Zeus bent down towards me, so close that his beard brushed against my face and breath enveloped my nostrils. "Are you not going to say hello to your father?" He spoke slowly and softly.

"Hello father, how have you been?" I responded.

"Not well, but I'm sure you know that. You know everything, just as you tell all," he pulled me up from the ground as he finished speaking. "I can see contempt in your face."

Zeus paused waiting for me to speak, but when it became obvious I would not, he continued. "Is this about what you heard of Prometheus? If you feel I am wrong, then tell me who gave me the fruit?"

"I do not know," I said.

"So much to my surprise," Zeus said sarcastically. "Tell me then, tell me a story of who makes sense to blame. Can you at least tell a better story than your brother?"

My eyes met with Ares. His face still holding that damn smirk of indifference. I look down and spit, clearly in his vicinity, before speaking, "I cannot tell a lie better than this one."

My disrespect made him choke up his spear, while my words made him want to skewer me. "Call down boy." Zeus said degradingly to Ares before returning to me, "But what do you really want to say? Tell me, tell me that the King of Gods has seen treason against him, but that he should simply let it go."

When I wouldn't even look him in his face, he found his victory. "Exactly. You know nothing, just hold words of weakness," he snarled.

Zeus began pacing the room, knowing that I wasn't going anywhere. "You find yourself close with my brothers, which I find particularly advantageous right now," He said placing his hand on my shoulder - something which sent shivers down my spine. "I need you to pay them both a visit and when you return, I will need both Poseidon's Trident and the Scepter of Hades. Is that too much for you, my son?"

"Never, father. Nothing is too much to do, not for you."

"Good," Zeus said as he pointed me away.